the continuing story of beads

Hi, it's Anne Marie again! My pieces always start off with a colour, shape, object, or germ of an idea. I work intuitively, so am reluctant to sketch, or commit anything to paper. Although frustrating at times, it seems to work! I start with a shape &/or theme, choose and attach the main focal (always with an off-centre placement), audition clusters of beads and found objects, take a quick photo, then begin stitching. Depending on the size, I may decide to add smaller focals/clusters, and possibly a path (linear division). As I get closer to the edge, I flatten the texture, using a unifying stitch (moss/boucle), and size 11 seed beads. Where do I get my ideas, you say? Imagination, dreams, and the stash of a magpie! ..... I pull the colours from my main focal (but not always), gather a bunch of beads, shop if I must, and then start stitching. Somewhere in this process, the piece starts talking to me, and the flow begins. Trust your instincts, listen to your imagination, don't worry about the end result, tell a story, and just focus on the joy of the process! I leave you with photos of some of my 2013 and 2014 Bead Journal Project pieces.

The little houses, in my 2012 series, all include a number(s), corresponding to the month, a vintage button, and one or more buttons from the family button jar. My unifying theme for the 2014 series, is the shapes of the leaves (collected in the fall of 2012). I love to blend techniques, and include gifted items, found objects, and recycled items in my pieces. I challenge you to include some in your art! If you'd like to see/read more, I invite you to wander over to my blog.

now for something different

This post is going to be short on words, but heavy on photos. I'm a fibre artist, with a passion for techniques. I became involved with Robin Atkins, Bead Journal Project (BJP) in 2008/2009, and haven't looked back since. Although my fibre roots have been neglected lately, I hope to correct that in the near future. My 2010 BJP pieces, are probably my favourites, as they combine my love for fibre, free motion stitching, beads, paint, memorabilia and found objects. Each tells a personal story!

I only completed seven in this series, but it's definitely something I would like to revisit in the future. If you'd like to hear more, please visit my blog! To think that it all started with a simple triangle!

The Bead Journal Project is now on Facebook, and will be open for new members, in December of this year.